One thing that I notice about amateur golfers is there inability to control distances with their clubs or their club selection. Most of the time they will come up short of the intended target on full shots and on short shots it could be either.

I have written before that how fast the club is going is the number one factor in determining the distance that the ball goes with the particular club you are using. Other factors are what the clubface is doing at impact the path relative to the clubface are all important to distance control but if we assume that good contact is made then distance is relative to how fast the club is moving.

The first thing when preparing to hit the shot is to figure out how far you want to carry the ball in the air given what it is going to do when it hits the ground. If the ground is soft then you want to fly the ball most of the way to the intended target. If the ground is hard then we have to allow for the ball to roll. Next we will figure into the wind and how it is going to affect the distance the ball goes. The general rule is that for every mile an hour the wind is blowing it will affect the ball 1 yard. So if the wind is into you blowing 10 M.P.H. then you should add 10 yards to the total distance. This is a very precise process and nowadays you can use G.P.S. devices or rangefinders to determine this precise distance. I highly recommend using these devices.

The final piece of the puzzle is that you must know exactly how far you hit each club. You should keep testing and checking to see how far you hit each one of your clubs. You might want to spend sometime on the range just checking how far you hit each club. There are many ways to do this. If you do not have a G.P.S. unit that you can mark where you hit the shot from and then where the ball lands then when you are out playing and hit a good shot, start pacing off the shot to where the ball landed to get an idea of the carry distance.

I cannot emphasize the importance of this in determining your ability to play this game.

Tags: General, Lessons in Golf by John White
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If anything frustrates me in the game of golf, it is the constant stream of pupils that arrive at my door with the notion that the head should stay down. This one piece of advice is the single most misunderstood and hurtful advice someone could give someone.

Let me explain. The sole purpose of the head is to use the eyes to locate ball position. That is all. Once this happens, the head just sits there passively. The swing rotates around the spine and as the player goes into the finishing position the head naturally follows the body and the player arrives in natural height facing the target.

The player must find the posture that allows him to rotate around his spine the easiest and so that the incline plane intersects with the ground where the ball is. He must maintain this posture until after the ball is struck; so many people believe that keeping the head down or still will help this. If we don’t get restrictive in our movement then this could help but 9 times out of 10 this is not the case. The player is so focused on keeping the head down that the swing becomes tense restrictive.

We must release the head and neck. The head should float or sit on top of the spine and allowed to release up and a little forward. Think of a string pulling up on the exact top of your head and your movement will become much easier. This is what you should be constantly striving for.

Parents and teachers please don’t tell your students to keep their head down!

Tags: Golf General, Lessons in Golf by John White
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The Ryder Cup was an outstanding display of team spirit, passion and great golf as I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I think it was great that the Americans won and this will just lead to more hype for the next Ryder Cup. If the Europeans had won again the interest would have gone down and it might have lost some of the unbelievable rivalry and passion that it brings out not only in the players but the fans as well.

I listened to the news conferences afterwards and the questions that they asked Faldo and implied that his strategy was to blame for the lost was ridiculous. Hind sight is great but who knows what would have happened if he had changed his order in singles or not rested Sergio on Saturday afternoon.

My hats off to Paul Azinger and his outstanding job of picking the team and picking youth and passionate guys that I think was the difference. These guys like Anthony Kim, Boo Weekley and J. B. Holmes don’t have the experience of Ryder Cup which was mostly negative in the past couple of years.

It was a great spectacle for golf and for the whole world to see.

Tags: Golf General by John White
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What does this mean in regards to your golf game? In watching the Ryder Cup or for that matter any professional golf tournament, watch how consistent everyone’s finishing position is. They all end up on the front foot facing the target, with the back leg on its toe and all the weight on the front foot. For the most part, they are all balanced unless you’re Phil Mickelson.

This finishing position is so constant and almost everyone I teach or have taught can reach this goal. Learn to swing the club to this position. Forget about the ball for now and just swing the club and arrive at the finishing position. Do this over and over to adjust your balance. Increase your speed until you can swing at your maximum speed without compromising balance, although most people would like to hit it farther but are afraid to swing faster.

This is the first part in building a good golf swing. Make the motion. Making this motion will make a good golf swing and it’s the motion that makes the shot.

Start at the feet and move the feet so that they end up in this finishing position with all the weight on the front foot and the back foot on its toe. Throw a ball at a target and observe the position you end up in. This is a natural position. Swing the club like a baseball bat and observe the finishing position.

If you can doe this, I will guaranty that you will have a good golf swing. This does not mean that you will hit the ball yet as golf is very precise and there are other factors that we will cover in future blogs but begin with the end in mind

Tags: General by John White
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